We have now hit that time of year. Pitchers and catchers have already reported to some teams' camps and others will be over the next couple of days. Though opening day is a little ways away, baseball has started in the eyes of the die hard. The off season has come to a conclusion and the focus is on what to expect out of the upcoming series of baseball months. It also means the return of www.johnpielli.com 's 30-1 MLB countdown previews, the more controversial series of team baseball previews. All you have to do is go to the same generic websites and read the same predictions. They all have the teams positioned the same. The teams that made the postseason last year are rewarded in the minds of the pickers and are picked to finish in the top of their respective leagues/ divisions. The teams that did not do so well in 2014 are all predicted to finish at the bottom of the division- unless they had a big off season, where in some cases, they get expectations that they cannot fulfill. My predictions are based on how I perceive each roster looks. I have studied the 2014 MLB team, its 2014- 2015 off season, their minor league system and have come up with an overall outlook for 2015. I also use the Las Vegas over- unders to judge the amount of wins I think a team will net for the upcoming season. In some cases, my outlook is completely different from the likes of baseball prospectus (almost always is), baseball america, MLB dot com and other sites. As in past years, I am always up for the debate so I look forward to hearing from you. As always, thanks and "I'll see you on the other side." The Colorado Rockies are an interesting team. They have put together a very good group of offensive players to hit at Coors Field. If healthy, this group should outscore any team in major league baseball. So the question begs, why am I so down on the Rockies in 2015? First is the injury question. Star hitters Troy Tulowitzki (.340, 21, 52 in 91 games) and Carlos Gonzalez (.238, 11, 38 in 70 games) are not sure things to play in even half of the games this coming season. If they happen to stay on the field, the lineup- like I said, will be fierce. The problem is and always has been pitching with the Colorado Rockies. They have tried a number of different approaches, but none of them have worked. Outside of LHPs Jorge De La Rosa (14-11, 4.10, 32 starts) and Tyler Matzek (6-11, 4.05 in 19 starts), the Rockies projected starting rotation is terrible. The thought of free agent signing Kyle Kendrick (10-13, 4.61 in 32 starts) pitching in Coors Field is very scary. There was a report (not cited, so I do not take it seriously) that the Rockies made a big push for James Shields. The history of the altitude of Colorado effecting pitchers goes back to the Rockies inception. It has also impacted the desire of free agent pitchers of wanting to pitch in Colorado. I blame that more than the front office as the reason the Rockies do not at the moment have a major league rotation. Free agent OF Michael Cuddyer (.332, 10, 31 in 49 games) went to the Mets as a free agent. The Rockies have the OF depth to replace him. LHP Brett Anderson (1-3, 2.91, 8 starts) was the one Rockies pitcher I was surprised to see get away. He pitched very well in his time in Colorado, something difficult to do. His leadership could also have helped the younger pitchers as they learn to pitch at Coors Field. I know the Dodgers gave him $10 million, but his value to the Rockies is higher than that of LA. If I was the Rockies, I would have given him $13 million. Perhaps Anderson did not want to pitch at Coors Field, which always seems likely. Kendrick replaces the combination of Anderson and LHP Franklin Morales (6-9, 5.37, 38 games, 22 starts), who is currently still a free agent. Catcher Nick Hundley (.243, 6, 22 in 83 games) comes in from Baltimore to take over behind the dish. This keeps the Rockies from having to use Wilin Rosario (.267, 13, 54 in 106 games) at catcher, something that Rockies could not do last season without vomiting in their mouth. The Rockies finished at 66-96 last season, a couple of games ahead of the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NL West division. The Rockies managed to be at 28-28 after the month of May and went a terrible 38-68 the rest of the way. Painting the dream scenario for this team will include all their regular players being healthy. Manager Walt Weiss would love to put this lineup out there: CF Charlie Blackmon (.288, 19, 72, 28 SB), 1B Justin Morneau (.319, 17, 82), SS Tulowitzki, RF Gonzalez, LF Corey Dickerson (.312, 24, 76), 3B Nolan Arenado (.287, 18, 61), C Hundley/ Michael McKendry (.315, 8, 22 in 55 games, 2B DJ LeMahieu (.267, 5, 42). Rosario will be a backup at both 1B and in the OF. Infielder Daniel Descalso (.242, 0, 10 in 102 games for St Louis last season) provides some insurance in the middle infield. One of the things that few talk about with the Rockies is their superior defense. Arenado is already started on his series of Gold Gloves and is the best defensive 3B in all of baseball (Manny Machado is tied, in my opinion, with Josh Donaldson just behind). LeMahieu has quietly gained the reputation as a strong defender, winning his first GG last year. Tulowitzki is above average as a defensive SS and so is Morneau at 1B. Their OFs are all above average defensively as well and assuming Gonzalez is healthy, they should be able to cover the ground at Coors. However, there is some concern over Gonzalez being able to cover the ground he used to. Hundley behind the disk makes this one of the better all around defensive teams in the game, something few discuss. As many positive things I can say about the offense and defense, the pitching staff looks as bad as it has been in years. I like De La Rosa, but he is far from an ace and has had injury issues his whole career. Matzek would be my number 2, followed by Jordan Lyles (7-4, 4.33 in 22 starts) and Kendrick. Jhoulys Chacin (1-7, 5.40, 11 starts) was terrible last year when he was healthy but seems, at this moment, the leading candidate to be the team's 5th starter. If I was to give a pitcher a shot at the number 5 spot, I would go with 2012 1st round draft pick Eddie Butler (1-1, 6.75, 3 starts). 2013 number 3 overall pick Jonathan Gray could be on his way up too. In the meantime, journeymen Jair Jurrjens and John Lannan get another crack at making the big league rotation. Colorado is the place to be... if you want a chance to pitch. One thing I overrated last season with the Rockies was their bullpen. I really thought it was going to be a bright spot for them. I could not have been any more incorrect. Matt Belisle (4-7, 4.87, 66 games) left as a free agent to join the Cardinals after having a down season. The ageless LaTroy Hawkins (4-3, 3.31, 23 saves, 57 games) comes back for his final big league season hoping for some help. The team signed former Yankees LHP Boone Logan (2-3, 6.84, 35 games) to a 3 year deal after 2013 and lost him for a good part of last season. Based on his numbers, the Rockies did not necessarily enjoy having Logan pitch when he was healthy. He is a better pitcher than we saw last season and maybe his injury affected his performance. The same hopes can be put on LHP Rex Brothers, who went from a 2-1, 1.74, 72 game 2013 to a hideous 4-6, 5.59, 74 game 2014 season. RHP Adam Ottavino (1-4, 3.60, 75 games) pitched well as a setup and inherits the job from Belisle in 2015. RHP Tommy Kahnle (2-1, 4.19, 54 games) will also see his responsibilities increase. Brooks Brown pitched to a 2.77 ERA in 28 games last season for the Rockies. John Axford (2-4, 3.95, 62 games for Cleveland and Pittsburgh) joins the mix as well as former Rockies closer Rafael Betancourt. On the farm, 2014 LHP Kyle Freeland should move through the system very quickly. Expect to see Gray at some point this season. Though there really is no room in the Rockies OF, left hand hitting Raimel Tapia looks like he will become a star. The same can be said about left hand hitting 3B Ryan McMahon. Both have very good power that will probably get even better at Coors Field. Neither expects to make the big club in 2015. Perhaps the Rockies can power themselves to victory. As good as the defense is, the lack of pitching will not get the most out of this defense, which is a shame. Having to make spectacular plays all day becomes difficult to do all the time. And similar to an NFL defense, being on the field for long periods of time does not help either. Even if Tulo and CarGo stay healthy, the pitching staff will doom them in 2015. I see the Rockies at 68-94, a 2 game improvement from last year, but last place in the NL West. Vegas put their over/ under at 71 1/2, which I think was a little high.

To continue my journey into belief of the sleeper team, I am going with the Pittsburgh Pirates as a team I think can finally get over that hump this season. Ever since Barry Bonds left after the 1992 season to sign with the Giants, the Pirates have yet to have a winning season. It seemed like it would finally happen in 2012 when they were 58-42 after July 28th. Unfortunately, for the second consecutive year, they ran out of gas finishing the season 21-41 for a 79-83 record. However, that was their best finish since they were 79-83 in 1997 under Gene Lamont. The biggest strength will be the team's outfield, though their lineup is fairly strong all around. Andrew McCutchen (.327, 31, 96) was their best player by a mile and was a NL MVP candidate. 24 year old Starling Marte will be the starting LF, after hitting .257, 5, 17 in 47 games last season. Marte profiles to be a player that should hit .300 with 20 HR and 20 SBs. That would be more than OFs Alex Presley and Jose Tabata, who played in a combined 207 games last season and hit a combined 13 HR, 41 RBI and 17 SB. The starting RF will be a guy who is ready to have a breakout season, Travis Snider. The 25 year old came over in a trade with Toronto last season after hitting .335 with 56 RBI in 56 games with AAA Las Vegas. Though he hit just .250 last year in 60 MLB games, his track record coming up in the minors shows he will be a .300 hitter with potential 20 HR power. Write this down, the combination of McCutchen, Marte and Snider will hit 70+ HR this season. The infield gets some boost with the signing of catcher Russell Martin (.211, 21, 53). However, the tandem of Rod Barajas and Michael McKendry combined to hit 23 HRs for the Pirates last season. Having McKendry should allow Martin to get a little more rest this season, keeping him fresh. Martin is certainly an upgrade over Barajas and 2011 catcher Chris Snyder. Garrett Jones (.2474, 27, 86) and Pedro Alvarez (.244, 30, 85) give the team power at the corners, with Neil Walker (.280, 14, 69) at 2B. Clint Barmes (.229, 8,45) struggled last season at SS. Gaby Sanchez, Jerry Sands, Brandon Inge and Josh Harrison lead a strong bench. My line up would look like this: Marte LF, Walker 2B, McCutchen CF, Alvarez 3B, Snider RF, Jones 1B, Martin C, Barmes SS. Perhaps to off-shift the three left hand batters, manager Clint Hurdle can go with Marte LF, Walker 2B, Alvarez 3B, McCutchen CF, Jones 1B, Martin C, Snider RF, Barmes SS. The pitching staff last season was led by AJ Burnett (16-10, 3.51 in 31 starts). James McDonald (12-8, 4.21) and Wandy Rodriguez (12-13, 3.76) give the team three solid starters. Charlie Morton is likely to miss the entire 2013 season. Jeff Karstens (5-4, 3.97 in 19 games, 15 starts) has looked decent but has had difficulty staying healthy. 25 year old LHP Jeff Locke went 10-5, 2.48 in AAA Indianapolis last season and is the favorite to win the 5th starter spot. Jonathan Sanchez and Vin Mazzaro are long shots to make the team, as they wait for top pitching prospect Gerrit Cole. The closer position in MLB is overrated, so I do not think the loss of Joel Hanrahan will devastate the Pirates. Jason Grilli, who had called it a career in 2009, had 90 Ks in 58 2/3 IP last season. He is expected to be the closer with Jose Contreras and Mark Melancon (0-2, 6.40 in 41 games for Boston last season) hoping to set up. Melancon had a rough time in the AL, after going 8-4, 2.78, 20 saves for the Astros in 2011. Jared Hughes (2-2, 2.85 in 66 games) and LHP Tony Watson (5-2, 3.38 in 68 games) will round out the bullpen. If Grilli can repeat his 2012 season, the team will have a good closer. Vegas put the Pirates over/ under right at the teams win total from 2012, at 79. I see them getting the over at 84-78, 3rd place in the NL Central division.